Bright Sword: Leading the Special Operations Squadron to Fight the Japs

After issuing the first phase of orders, the one in Chongqing seemed to feel that he was not satisfied enough and it was difficult for him to demonstrate his command wisdom, so he directly issued orders to the division-level troops, bypassing the First War Zone and Chiang Ting-wen.

This made Jiang Dingwen very embarrassed, and his army commanders and division commanders were even more embarrassed. They all had two very different orders in their hands, one from the First War Zone and one from the Chongqing Military and Political Department, and the time of issuance was only one hour different.

The hesitant division commanders sent inquiring telegrams to Chiang Ting-wen, just wanting an explanation as to whose opinion they should listen.

Jiang Dingwen said unhappily:

"Whoever has a higher position should be obeyed. Anyway, you should decide for yourself. Don't lose all your wealth!"

These division commanders were almost collapsed when they saw the battle plan that was detailed to every minute. Is this the power of a "micro-control" master?

Anyway, they had completely lost their temper and simply followed the orders of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs.

"Give your regiment commanders and battalion commanders a death order. If you fail to arrive at the designated locations on time, you will not offend me, but the supreme commander!"

At four o'clock in the afternoon of the second day, all the troops had arrived at their designated locations.

The Chongqing Military and Political Department directly issued an order for a general attack, with one division making a feint attack on Gongyi and the remaining troops attacking Zhengxian.

This division is no match for the Gongyi Independent Mixed Brigade No. 9. It is called a feint attack, but in fact it is no different from seeking death.

They were inferior to the Japanese in tactical training and even more inferior in weapons and equipment, and they were defeated at the first touch.

After hearing the news, the man in Chongqing immediately smashed the tea bowl in anger, unable to control his rage.

"Damn it! A division couldn't even hold out for an hour! How's Zheng County doing?"

"Sir, the enemy is gathering towards Zheng County, but our feint attack did not attract any support from the enemy. The enemy's main force heading south along the Pinghan Line is not being held back."

With only a division's strength, you want to achieve the effect of a feint attack? A feint attack is to give the enemy the illusion that they are being attacked by the main force. A division's tickling is not even considered a feint attack, so how can it be called a feint attack?

To the Japanese, this division's random attack was not an attack, but suicide!

Therefore, the Japanese only regarded the attack of this one division as a last-ditch effort of the stragglers, and did not mobilize the troops assembled in Zheng County to attack along the Pinghan Line. The 1st Division, 110th Division and 3rd Tank Division that were attacking Yanshi did not make any unusual movements.

Chang Guangzhou learned from his mistakes and thought that the feint attack failed because the front-line troops did not use their full strength and did not attack according to the plan.

"Dispatch two more divisions to attack Gongyi. Make sure to relieve the pressure on the Zhengxian troops! In addition, the troops attacking Gongyi must launch attacks in tandem with the troops attacking Zhengxian! If we fail, we will die!"

Chang Guangzhou’s slogans were shouted loudly, and finally the general attack was launched at eight o’clock in the evening.

He believed that night combat could play to one's strengths and avoid one's weaknesses, and could circumvent the Japanese' absolute firepower advantage.

However, even without the cover of heavy firepower, the Japanese were still able to inflict heavy casualties on the Central Army attacking the city with their grenade launchers and mortars.

Chang Guangzhou's tactics of adding fuel to the fire were useless, and the Japanese Independent Mixed 9th Brigade was having a great time killing.

The Central Army attacking Zheng County from the southern mountainous area also encountered fierce resistance, and the attack was very difficult. Not to mention taking down the city wall of Zheng County, even the outer positions were difficult to break through.

Sometimes, when sporadic Central Army troops broke into the outer trenches, they were immediately repelled by fierce mortars and grenade launchers.

The battle lasted until dawn, with heavy losses. Gongyi and Zhengxian were still in the hands of the Japanese, and the defense line of the core position had not loosened at all.

At the Pingshun military fortress, Li Yunlong and Wang Meng stared at two pairs of red eyes, which were so painful that even drinking antipyretic tea was of no use.

"Mengzi, is that war god in Chongqing crazy? He even used the tactic of adding fuel to the fire? Doesn't he know the current combat effectiveness of the Central Army?"

"It doesn't matter if he makes a fool of himself, but we can't let him ruin the life of an old Chinese man like this! I'll contact Lao Zhao immediately and ask him to give it a try!"

"Okay, I suggest that the Fourth Army immediately prepare to build multiple pontoon bridges across the river. Give the order to cross the Yellow River within one day!

In addition, the Third Army Group is preparing to attack Anyang, Hebi, Xinxiang, Jiaozuo, and Boai, clear out the enemy on the north bank of the Yellow River, and then seize the Yellow River Bridge to encircle the enemy in central Henan!"

At eight o'clock in the morning, the anti-Japanese radio stations and neutral radio stations, led by Pingshun Radio Station, began to conduct extensive follow-up reports on the situation in Zheng County.

The source of all information was the scouts stationed in various positions by the independent column. They continuously sent intelligence to the headquarters and then distributed it to various radio stations.

While Chang Guangzhou continued to urge the First War Zone to continuously send troops to the Zhengxian battlefield, he also ordered Chen Bulei to make a meaningless response to public opinion.

"Sir, I am in charge of the war of public opinion, but our greatest offensive power previously came from a huge victory. If we cannot take Zheng County, I am afraid we will have to invite the independent column to cross the river and fight!"

"Xun'en, don't worry. I don't believe that with 400,000 soldiers, we can't take down Zheng County!"

Chen Bulei nodded. Although he thought it was a cake, he had no other choice but to eat it.

At eight o'clock that evening, the two armies that had marched quickly to the outskirts of Zheng County once again joined in the siege, and the flying artillery fire illuminated the entire sky.

After a night of fierce fighting, the Central Army still suffered heavy casualties, but Zheng County remained unmoved.

It was eight o'clock in the morning again, and information sent from all walks of life appeared on Chang Guangzhou's desk again, giving him a headache.

What gave him a headache was not only the different voices outside the party, but also some so-called "opposition" within the party who gradually raised doubts.

"Xun En, what do you think?"

Chen Bulei could no longer tolerate being insulted by the literati for "talking nonsense" and "talking nonsense", so he said tactfully:

"Sir, public opinion is not favorable to us now. Since we cannot achieve our expected goals militarily, we can only choose to make concessions and invite the independent column to cross the river to fight!"

"Xun En, do you think it has come to this? If a large area of ​​land in Henan Province falls into the hands of the independent column, what difference will that make? Of course, this is just something we talk about behind closed doors."

"Sir, I think we can invite the independent column to cross the river to fight, but we need to restrict them, such as not interfering in local government affairs and not appointing and dismissing local officials!"

Chang Guangzhou nodded helplessly. This was the only way. Otherwise, what he might lose was not the land in central Henan, but his current position.

"Let's do as you say!"